Was the Great Sphinx an African Man? #Photoshop #Sphinx

Will the Real Sphinx Please Stand Up?

Was the Great Sphinx an African (as in Negro) man?  This has been a controversy for some time.  It is difficult to tell because the Great Sphinx had his nose shattered many hundreds of years ago.  Without a nose, it is hard to tell if the original Sphinx had negroid features.  The Photoshop above shows the Sphinx with a negroid nose, compared to one with a more Semitic nose.  Personally, I believe that the Great Sphinx was smoking a cigar and that anti-tobacco fanatics removed it over the centuries.  However, it just goes to show you that a lot of theories, some of them weird, persist about the identity, race, gender and age of the Sphinx -- not to mention his affinity for tobacco.

Seriously, though, a lot of black people believe that the ancient Egyptians were Negroes.  After all, both of these ethnic groups are African -- the blacks from South Africa, the Egyptians from North Africa.  Same continent, and both are dark skinned.

As for his being negroid, some conspiracy theorists claim the nose was removed so people wouldn't know that the Sphinx was a Negro.  I saw a video on YouTube with Louis Farrakhan claiming that was the reason Napoleon shot the nose off the Sphinx -- to hide its Negroid Bonafides.  (The legend of Napoleon's nose-ectomy has been proved false -- earlier drawings of the Sphinx show the Sphinx without its nose decades before Napoleon ever saw it.)

An Ankh

As for modern depictions, remember that Michael Jackson video of him in an Egyptian temple, dancing and singing as only he could?   It was called "Remember the Time." That was definitely a presentation of black folks as ancient Egyptians -- both the video's Pharaoh (played by Eddie Murphy), and his Queen were black, as were all members of the royal court.  I once saw a young black woman wearing an Ankh around her neck -- you know, that cross-like symbol of ancient Egypt?  It was her way of connecting with the great civilization of the pharaohs.

I felt sorry for the young lady, because we all have a need to feel that we are part of something larger than ourselves.  Understandably, black people like to believe that they are descendants of a once-great civilization -- hence their focus on the ancient Egyptians.  Maybe they were, but I doubt it.  Some digital artists have superimposed the known face of the Pharaoh Kahfre onto the shattered face of the Sphinx, and it seems to fit perfectly.  Kahfre had a big nose, and the side view of the Sphinx with Kahfre's nose does not look negroid in the least.  Without a nose, it does look negroid, as negroid noses are often flat, and lay closer to the face.

The prevailing opinion seems to be that ancient Egyptians were much like modern Egyptians:  Arabic.

What do you think?

View Michael Jackson's video, "Remember the Time," here.

Michael Jackson Finally Laid to Rest

Michael Jackson was finally laid to rest tonight, more than two months after his death. He was entombed in the Great Mausoleum in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, California. Forest Lawn is a famous cemetery; over 100 years old, it covers 300 acres of rolling hills. Over 250,000 people are buried or entombed there. Many are famous stars, singers, directors or musicians. The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

The Great Mausoleum, where Jackson lies, is an impressive structure; see photo at this link.

Michael Jackson will be in good company in the Great Mausoleum. Many great stars rest there, including Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard and Red Skelton. The interior is a lot of marble -- to see what it looks like, view the private section where Clark Gable is located here.

Unfortunately for fans, Michael Jackson will be entombed in a private part of the mausoleum accessible only to family members; it requires a special "golden key of remembrance" to get in. This is wise, I think. Imagine what large crowds of fans and souvenir hunters would do to the quietude and solemnity of the place. However, this won't be a problem in a year or two. Time passes, passions subside and Michael Jackson will eventually be just one more famous name on the wall.

Other stars are buried in the grounds nearby -- James Stewart, Errol Flynn and Walt Disney, to name a few. To see a list of more, go here. To see a more complete, alphabetical list, see Findagrave.com, here.

Forest Lawn is not hospitable to star-gazing and refuses to give out information on the location of graves of famous people. The information, however, is readily available online and if you plan to visit, determine locations in advance. The guide at this link supplies a lot of information, not only for Forest Lawn but for various other cemeteries in and around Los Angeles.

Remember, however, that not all famous graves are accessible to the public. Some are located in locked sections or private gardens. Humphrey Bogart is one example.

A little known fact about Forest Lawn is that over 60,000 people have been married there, including Ronald Reagan (to Jane Wyman). There are several chapels on the grounds and they aren't limited to funerals.

My wife's cousin lives in Los Angeles and, until recently, worked at Forest Lawn selling cemetery plots. He found the work too melancholy for his tastes and left.

If you visit, be on your best behavior. A visitor's guide to Forest Lawn can be viewed at this link.

Update: See Findagrave.com for information and pictures of Michael Jackson at this link.

Michael Jackson, RIP

I remember about 20 years ago Mrs. Chomper and I were sitting in a bookstore/coffeeshop with twirling ceiling fans overhead. We were drinking coffee and eating lollyberry pie and talking about this singing and dancing sensation, Michael Jackson. This was about the time he had recorded "Billy Jean" and "Beat It." I told Mrs. Chomper that I thought Michael Jackson would be another megastar in the tradition of Elvis and the Beatles. He was quite an extraordinary talent. What I didn't foresee, however, was how someone so troubled could shred his life in spite of his great talent.

In later years Jackson bought and paid for large amounts of plastic surgery that turned him from a handsome black man into a freakish pixie-like Queen, with white makeup like a Geisha and ruby red lips like some nightmare clown. Whereas I had liked the original Michael Jackson, I didn't like the gay painted pedophile that he later became. I always hoped that he would somehow reclaim some aspect of his original self. Alas, it was not to happen. Due to as yet unexplained causes, he died today of cardiac arrest. He was only fifty years old.

Everyone has their favorite Michael Jackson song that, when played, takes them back to a particular time and place. Mine was "Ben," sung by Michael when he was still a preadolescent member of the Jackson Five. Back when that song was popular, around 1971, I was divorced from my first wife and my two sons were living with her and my replacement, who turned out to be a drunk and a sadist. My sons lived in terror of him as he would fly into violent rages without warning. The song "Ben" reminded me of my two sons, particularly the younger one. The song was originally about a rat named Ben in a movie by the same name, but that didn't matter. It was a hauntingly lovely and sentimental song and it expressed my feelings for my abused sons:

I used to say
I and me
Now it's us
Now it's we

Later my ex-wife got smart and divorced the SOB, and gave me custody of my sons. The new Mrs. Chomper raised them as her own and they were never abused again by anyone.

Here's the song, sung by Michael Jackson when he was still young.